[QUOTE=retina;473418]And the ironic part is that everything would probably have been perfectly fine if they didn't find the gun. It is not as though the gun will suddenly climb out of the bag and start shooting holes in people. I believe that she did forget about the gun, because taking it knowingly would be more unbelievable IMO.[/QUOTE]
It does seem more likely she had forgotten about the gun than that she deliberately brought an unsecured, loaded gun into an international airport. A lack of criminal intent might get the charge dismissed, or knocked down to some minor infraction.

It is amusing, though, that the woman is a big "gun rights" advocate. I mean, with rights go responsibilities, and simply forgetting about a loaded gun in a bag one is bringing into an airport is IMHO less than responsible.

As to everything being fine if TSA hadn't found and reported the gun, that's [i]probable[/i]. There are, however, some fun alternatives. For example, the TSA screener is having a bad day/week/month/year/life, detects the gun, and, instead of reporting it, decides to take it and use it to go ape:censored:.

Or a disgruntled airport or airline employee. Or perhaps a passing thief rifles through the bag, and takes the gun for the purpose of making some quick cash. Since the owner had forgotten about it, the theft might not have been detected until Something Very Bad happened with that gun; and if it had subsequently been recovered and traced, much hilarity would have ensued.

I finally got around to following up on a story from around Thanksgiving. I was surprised that no charges had been filed at the time. The wheels of justice turned a bit after that... [url=https://nypost.com/2017/11/30/hunter-charged-after-shooting-woman-he-thought-was-a-deer/]Hunter charged after fatally shooting woman he mistook for deer[/url]

[QUOTE=Dr Sardonicus;473941]I finally got around to following up on a story from around Thanksgiving. I was surprised that no charges had been filed at the time. The wheels of justice turned a bit after that... [url=https://nypost.com/2017/11/30/hunter-charged-after-shooting-woman-he-thought-was-a-deer/]Hunter charged after fatally shooting woman he mistook for deer[/url][/QUOTE]
The law was very firm, it
Took away his permit,
The worst punishment he ever endured.
It turned out there was a reason,
Cows were out of season,
And one of the hunters wasn’t insured.

[QUOTE=xilman;473945]The law was very firm, it
Took away his permit,
The worst punishment he ever endured.
It turned out there was a reason,
Cows were out of season,
And one of the hunters wasn’t insured.[/QUOTE]
Ah, yes, a favorite of my youth! My parents had a record called "Songs by Tom Lehrer," which I listened to many times. One of its offerings is [url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MQyoSLOlglw]The Hunting Song[/url].

[url]http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-43063729[/url]
[url]http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-43066226[/url]

In the [url=https://www.cnn.com/2018/02/14/us/nikolas-cruz-florida-shooting-suspect/index.html]Florida school shooting[/url], it seems Our Hero was an ex-student who had been expelled. Gee, and he seemed such a promising young man:

[quote]Cruz appeared to have been involved in the high school's Junior Reserve Officers' Training Corps (JROTC) program, as his name was listed under several awards in 2016, including academic achievement for maintaining an A grade in JROTC and B in remaining academic subjects, consistently presenting an outstanding appearance and outstanding conduct throughout school.[/quote]

Hmm, is being an avid JROTC participant an [i]indicator?[/i]

:stirpot:

Or, perhaps, it's just another example of the NRA's motto

:devil:

[b]When life hands you a lemon, pull out a gun and start shooting[/b]

So we will see the tolerance level that USA is prepared to withstand before they change things. My guess is that we are nowhere near such a point yet. Because right now it seems the rhetoric is still "more guns to defend ourselves from people like Cruz". But that really means more guns in the hands of people like Cruz.

It seems that Cruz wasn't a Muslim, so that is okay then, just a normal shooting. Yay for the 2nd. But if Cruz was a Muslim the backlash would've been much more pronounced. It would have been labelled as a terrorist attack, and Muslim leaders would be called upon to apologise, and POTUS would be calling for the expulsion of all Muslims. Etc. So thankfully it was just some ordinary messed-up kid with an acceptable-religion, so nothing wrong here, everyone go out and buy more guns.

[QUOTE=retina;480111]So we will see the tolerance level that USA is prepared to withstand before they change things. My guess is that we are nowhere near such a point yet. Because right now it seems the rhetoric is still "more guns to defend ourselves from people like Cruz". But that really means more guns in the hands of people like Cruz.[/QUOTE]

But even that line doesn't work in this instance, because there were literally armed police officers on campus when the shooter started. And he still killed 17 people.

Here's how it'll go: 1) "Now isn't the time to talk about gun control." 2) Some token "concession" that quietly dies in the GOP-controlled Congress. 3) Repeat.

[QUOTE=wombatman;480113]But even that line doesn't work in this instance, because there were literally armed police officers on campus when the shooter started. And he still killed 17 people.[/QUOTE]Yeah, so not enough guns were there. [i]Everyone[/i] should have a gun, of course. And if there is ever a time when everyone [i]does[/i] have a gun, then it will be everyone must have two guns. Etc. etc. etc.

[QUOTE=retina;480111]So we will see the tolerance level that USA is prepared to withstand before they change things. My guess is that we are nowhere near such a point yet. Because right now it seems the rhetoric is still "more guns to defend ourselves from people like Cruz". But that really means more guns in the hands of people like Cruz.[/QUOTE]
The US is light years away from sanity on guns. Roll out some more "Thoughts and Prayers®". Those seem to be Workin' Real Good.